The government is going to formulate laws to protect witnesses who will give deposition in all courts including the newly formed International Crimes Tribunal to prove the offences committed by the accused.

BNP leaders, activists and supporters in Bhola-3 constituency are panic-gripped ahead of the by-election as they are allegedly being frequently attacked by their political opponents and threatened not to go to polling centres on election day.

Unless a huge number of school dropout is checked and enrolment of poor and working or vulnerable children is ensured, the nation's goal of education for all by 2014 would remain a far cry, educationists said yesterday at a roundtable.

Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company (Kafco) has postponed plans for a billion-dollar plant because of gas crisis, the company's top executive said yesterday. It was forced to close down its existing plant less than a month ago.

A parliamentary body yesterday asked the housing and public works ministry to send a letter to BNP chief Khaleda Zia asking her to pay the money so far due as principal amount and interest for the Gulshan house allotted to her.

The Election Commission (EC) yesterday ordered the district police administration to immediately stop 'pre-emptive' arrests of political activists and voters ahead of the by-polls in Bhola-3 constituency, terming such arrests unlawful.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Motahar Hossain yesterday said the stipend for primary school students will be increased from 40 percent to 85 percent as part of the government's pledge to achieve education for all by 2014.

Five noted educationists of the country have urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to sever all direct and indirect links between the Awami League and Bangladesh Chhatra League to maintain a congenial atmosphere at all educational institutions.

The Energy and Mineral resources division of the Ministry of Energy, Power and Mineral resources yesterday formed a committee headed by the division's secretary to review the draft coal policy and asked to submit a report on it in the shortest possible time.

A series of grenade blasts ripped through a pro-government rally in Bangkok yesterday, leaving three dead and 70 injured, including foreigners, in the latest bloodshed in the heart of the Thai capital.

Editorial

THE government is of the view that 80 per cent of the decisions made by the cabinet in the last 15 months have been implemented. In a little more detail, one is to understand that of the 405 decisions made by the council of ministers, a total of 325 have been carried out. It is now a mere 80 that are being worked on. We are happy that the government has decided to enlighten the nation on its achievements and has, in such an appreciable way, taken the people into its confidence. It conveys the government's sense of accountability and there should be more of it. However, even as we appreciate the move, we will hope that this self-assessment about its performance has nothing to do with being self-congratulatory.

THE Department of Environment (DoE)'s suing four ship-breaking yards in Chittagong for polluting environment is a clear case of misplaced emphasis, to put it politely. With an amendment to the import order letting toxic ships in without pre-inspection certification either by the supplier or the importer, the litigation is actually an eye-wash and playing to the gallery. As far as a response to the surging genuine concerns over the state of ship-breaking yards goes, it even sounds diversionary. In fact, another ministry of the government, namely, commerce ministry, deciding 'to allow dismantling vessels built with toxic substances', the four breaking yards in question have been sued. What does this work out to?

Sports

The just concluded National Cricket League T20s was a perfect comeback tournament for country's leading paceman Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. It was not only because the "Narail Express" became man-of-the-tournament for his striking all-round showing of ten wickets and 93 runs, rather he got back the much needed self-confidence ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 to start from April 30 in West Indies.

Cricket, at the highest level, is no longer just about bat and ball. Starting from a computer analyst to a spin bowling coach, a cricket team's needs have changed considerably from the days when a player himself was considered the best coach. Now with the advent of professionalism at both the international and domestic level, it would be quite the task to tell a cricketer to coach the team as well.

Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians captain, has injured a finger on his right hand during the semifinal against Royal Challengers Bangalore, making him uncertain for the final on Sunday. Tendulkar, who was bleeding after attempting a low slip catch, rushed back to the dressing room and had five stitches.

Jacob Oram's catalogue of serious injuries is wearing him down but the lure of the World Twenty20 has motivated another comeback. A torn patella tendon in the first ODI against Australia last month ruled him out of the IPL, where his price tag was US$675,000, and continued a desperate battle with his body.

A stubborn ninth wicket partnership set the GP-BCB National Cricket Academy back on the opening day of their first four-day game against South Africa National Academy at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.

Chennai Super Kings, boosted by a determined display from their bowlers led by Doug Bollinger, put an end to Deccan Chargers' run of five consecutive wins to qualify for the IPL final for the second time.

Manchester United has been named as the world's most valuable football club for the sixth year running, while Real Madrid sit second and Championship club Newcastle United come in 20th in the latest data released by Forbes Magazine.

Bayern Munich are hoping Uefa will show leniency when a decision is made on Franck Ribéry's red card last night. Uefa will decide next Wednesday whether Ribery will face any more than the automatic one-game ban.

Portsmouth will not be allowed to play in the Europa League next season after the English Football Association and Premier League told the FA Cup finalists their late bid to register for the tournament had been rejected.

The national hockey team have started their full-fledged training for the upcoming Asian Games Qualifiers after German coach Gerhard Peter Rach arrived in the capital yesterday following his flight delay over volcanic ash from Iceland in Europe.

Brothers Golam Mabud and Golam Rahman, both first-class cricketers, have been admitted to Sylhet Osmani Medical Hospital after suffering injuries during a robbery at their residence in Sylhet early morning on Wednesday.

Bangladesh is going to launch a world class testing firm for the first time in the country to conduct chemicals and dyes tests of exportable apparel items, said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Bangladesh Bank will receive $250 million in loan from the World Bank (WB) soon to build infrastructure through public-private partnership (PPP), said the central bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman yesterday.

State Minister for Environment and Forests Hasan Mahmud said yesterday the government would finance the construction of the central effluent treatment plant (ETP) for the newly established tannery village in Savar.

Commerce Minister Faruk Khan has urged the US government to immediately pass the New Partnership for Trade Development Act (NPTDA) in the US Congress to boost exports of Bangladeshi products to the US market.

PRAGATI INSURANCEThe Board of Directors recommended 20 percent cash dividend and 10 percent stock dividend (1 bonus share for every 10 shares) for 2009. The company's annual general meeting will be held on June 15 (at noon) at Jamuna Resort Ltd in Tangail. The record date is May 10. The company also reported earnings per share of Tk 28.73, net asset value per share of Tk 530.52 and net operating cash flow per share of Tk 10.88 as of December 31, 2009.

Metropolitan

Academic activities of Chittagong University (CU) were hampered for the 3rd consecutive day as Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) CU unit continued indefinite strike to press home their demands, including resignation of Vice Chancellor Dr Abu Yusuf.

Speakers at a seminar yesterday underscored the need for ratifying the International Labor Organisation (ILO) Convention concerning the minimum age for admission to employment to eliminate child labour.

Former ambassador ATM Nazimullah Chowdhury has been asked to surrender before the trial court by April 25 in connection with a corruption case, according to a verdict of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court whose copy was released yesterday.

Although 80 percent of childhood cancer cases get cured in developed countries, the figure for Bangladesh is only 10 to 20 percent due to lack of awareness and early intervention, experts said yesterday.

A group of unruly Awami League cadres yesterday afternoon unleashed an attack on a BNP demonstration at Alam Market premises in the city's Jurain area, vandalising the dais and driving out demonstrators.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed her and her government's strong commitment to ensuring religious freedoms and the dignity of each and every person, asserting her present government's belief in secularism does not preclude religion.

Two Dhaka courts yesterday granted bail to Shawkat Mahmud, adviser to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, in two defamation cases filed against him on charges of making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina and State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam.

About two-thirds of the standing boro crop in Kawadighi and Korayer haor areas under Rajnagar upazila of Moulvibazar district have gone under water due to heavy rainfall and onrush of water from hills across the border.

People of Rajshahi are experiencing an unbearable hot spell with the daytime temperature hovering around 40 degrees Celsius, much over the district's average April temperature of 35.7 degrees while erratic power supply coupled with water crisis compounds the problem.

Three instructors of Sylhet Primary Training Institute (PTI) were transferred yesterday on the basis of the report of a probe body formed by the authorities concerned following agitation by the trainees on April 16.

Thousands of indigenous people brought out a procession, held a rally and submitted a memorandum to the secretary of land ministry through the deputy commissioner to press home their five-point demand in town yesterday morning.

Members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on Wednesday night seized about 50 thousand pieces of Yaba tablets worth Tk 2.5 crore at Balutupa near the district town. Acting on a tip-off, a patrol team of BDR conducted a drive in the area at midnight and recovered the sex stimulating tablets. Sensing presence of border guards, the drug peddlers fled the scene leaving behind the tablets.

Khulna City Corporation (KCC) in a drive conducted on Wednesday demolished over 100 unauthorised structures built on both sides of canals in Gallamari and Bagmara areas by influential persons belonging to Awami League, BNP and business community. A KCC team headed by an executive magistrate started the 20-day drive in a bid to resolve the problem of water-logging in the rainy season, according to KCC sources. The drive will continue till May 10, they said. Last year, a similar drive was conducted for the same purpose. But it was halted following murder of Shahid Iqbal Bithar who was the first convenor of the eviction drive committee. Bithar was killed in gun attack by outlaws on May 11 last year.

Robbers looted valuables worth about Tk 5 lakh from the house of an expatriate at village Joynagar in Jagonnathpur upazila of Sunamganj district early yesterday. Robbers numbering about 15 entered the house of Dabir Uddin by breaking open the door of the house and took away 5 tolas of gold ornaments, mobile phone, cash money and other valuables at arms point. While fleeing with the booty, the robbers fired blank shots to frighten people of the locality.

Police recovered two powerful bombs from near the house of a retired government official in Dewanpara area of Goalanda municipality on Wednesday afternoon. Acting on secret information, police conducted a drive at about 6:00pm and recovered the bombs in abandoned condition from the western side of the house. However, none was arrested in this connection.

A court here on Wednesday sentenced a man to suffer life term imprisonment (RI) for killing his younger brother. The court also fined the convict, Shafiq Miah, Tk 20,000, in default, to suffer two years more RI. According to the prosecution, Shafiq of Mojlishpur village in Biswanath upazila, slaughtered his younger brother Surat Miah following a family feud on March 13, 2009. Victim's wife filed a case. After examining records and witnesses, District and Sessions Judge M Mominullah handed down the verdict.

Letters

Our capital city is almost in the middle of the country. Other important cities are not more than 500km from Dhaka city. So, it is very easy to provide a high quality transportation system either by railway or highway. But unfortunately we are far behind other countries in this respect. My focus is on railway. Railway can be a very profitable sector for government. Rail journey is much more comfortable and safer than any other mode of transport. It can be a first choice of travel and carrying goods. It is unclear to me that even now we are not able to provide a good railway system throughout the country. Last month I travelled from Dhaka to Brahmanbaria by "Mohanagar Provati”. It took two(2) hours to reach the place. Distance was 142 km. i.e. it travelled 70 km /hr. Cleanliness and other services of this train is praiseworthy. But what about other routes? My home town is Jamalpur. There are four inter-city and two commuter trains on this route. Distance from Dhaka to Jamalpur is 177km. But it takes six hours to reach at an average speed of 30km/hr! We want to get rid of this nightmare. People on this route are not travelling free of cost. They are also paying. They also have important works. They also want to reach home early. We want at least 70-80km/hr train service. It is not an impossible task. The easy solution is to construct double-line from Dhaka to other mega cities. Proper maintenance is also required.

Droughts are recurrent features in Bangladesh, affecting plant growth and leading to loss of crop production, food shortage and for many people starvation. The records of incidence of drought in Bangladesh indicate that the north-western region of Bangladesh is the most drought prone. During the last 50 years, Bangladesh suffered about 20 times from droughts. The 1973 drought was one of the severest in the past century and was responsible for 1974-local famine in northern Bangladesh.

Pahela Baishakh was, and should be a day to remember for all of us! Not for the red and white dresses, nor the songs and cultural activities, but for the 'UNUSUAL' absence of load shedding! Load shedding has become a daily reality-- much like the morning cup of tea. That day it was a significant beginning of the New Year heralded by its absence! Till the time of this writing (around 7.30pm!), we have not lost a minute of electricity to load shedding. A rare event, worth more celebration than the New Year with its surprising and possibly auspicious(?) beginning!

Remittance inflow in our country increased by 20 percent in 2009. More than one crore Bangladeshis are now living abroad. Their remittances contribute to our GDP hugely. But there is absence of proper legal platform to send the money. Expatriates are somehow compelled to remit through illegal channels. Recently, Eastern Bank, Dhaka Bank & mobile operator Banglalink launched a cell phone-based remittance transfer system. They will allow the remittance receivers to cash in a day. The banks will offer mobile wallet accounts to the remittance receivers through Banglalink network.

Biodiversity is the multitude of different living beings in a particular ecosystem or on the whole Earth. Biodiversity can be seen and studied at different organisational levels: genetic, organisational and ecological. It touches upon both native environments on land and sea as well as agricultural and other man-made surroundings. In agriculture, 7000 species of plants are used by farmers somewhere in the world, critics of Genetically Engineered Food (GE food) claim that the products of biotechnology threaten biodiversity. Every year hundreds of millions of pounds of organophosphate insecticides are sprayed on crops. These broad-spectrum insecticides kill virtually every insect on contact. The run-off from the sprays kills even more organisms in the soil and waterways. In an ideal world, we could just stop all use of these chemicals. But, unfortunately, such drastic measures would reduce crop yields.

It is obvious that, our government is committed to turning Bangladesh into a 'Digital Country'. Highlighting such a great plan, the prime minister has called on the whole nation to use Internet as a means of exchanging information, news, views and so on. As the benefits of Internet are well known, I needn't discuss them here.

Global warming is a common issue today. The Arctic polar cap and Himalayan ice are melting and the sea level is rising gradually. Global warming and melting of ice is directly going to affect people living in the coastal areas. Sea level rise is a grim possibility and it poses a serious threat to people living in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Twenty-five percent of our coastal areas may be submerged in the next fifty to hundred years, creating a huge problem of re-settlement of millions of people living in the coastal districts and can turn into a major national disaster.

Being citizens of an independent country, I know the first thing that people need is security of life. But are we getting it really? Keeping our eyes in the newspaper, every day we watch all sorts of crimes being committed.

I am greatly disappointed by the news of physical harassment of females by youths on Dhaka University campus after sunset on the day of Pahela Baishakh. A social resistance, especially from the young generation, is needed to avert this kind of incidents on such occasions. Strong vigilance and harsh punishment to the criminals must be ensured.

UNESCO has selected The Indian National Anthem -- “Jana gana mana…” composed by great Bengali Poet Tagore as the best national anthem of the world. It may be mentioned here that the National Anthem of Bangladesh -- “Amar sonar Bangla…” is also composed by him.

It is known that coastal areas are among the most sensitive zones around the world. The coast of Bangladesh is known as a zone of multiple vulnerabilities due to various forms of pollution which made the whole coastal and marine environment vulnerable.

The process of the 28th BCS started about two years ago and its viva was complete on 10 January 2010. If the authorities were serious enough then in this computer age such a long time would not be required for publishing the final results.

How dangerous times we the students are passing through! Students are being killed one after another! Student politics has been turned into an excuse for killing people! As if anyone belonging to any political group or scholastic institution can be killed any time! And afterwards, though some committees are formed for investigation, hardly any one is found guilty in the end due to lack of enough evidence.

To free Dhaka from traffic congestion we are thinking of the introduction of underground and sky train services, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), elevated expressway etc. However, an easy, speedy, low cost and sustainable solution would be a Surface Train Metro Service (STMS) from Joydevpur to Narayanganj with all intersections grade separated. Double Decker Trains at every 2 to 5 minutes, as required, in this route can reduce the traffic congestion of Dhaka significantly, since most of the Dhaka's traffic generation points lie along this line. The track can be 4 lines from Kamalapur to Tongi with 2 dedicated lines for the Metro; else the central station can be shifted to Tongi. Some positive aspects of this project are:

To the Bengalis it seems like something fishy is going on in India. Despite a fivefold increase in fish production since independence, many Indians prefer to go for chicken and meat rather than the Bengali staple.

European airports sent thousands of planes into the sky yesterday after a week of unprecedented disruptions, but shifting winds sent a new plume of volcanic ash over Scandinavia, forcing some airports in Norway and Sweden to close again.

The US yesterday dismissed as "false" and "outrageous" the allegations made by former Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief Hamid Gul that the United States government was involved in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

One of President Mahinda Rajapakse's brothers was selected as the new speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament Thursday, a day after official results confirmed a solid victory for the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Aides to Israel's prime minister said yesterday that he has officially rejected President Barack Obama's demand to suspend all construction in contested east Jerusalem, a move that threatens to entrench a year-old deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg will be in the hot seat as Britain holds its second televised election debate, with Labour's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron both gunning for the man who upstaged them a week ago.

Arts & Entertainment

A weeklong ceramics exhibition at Zainul Gallery, titled “Mrettikya” (Shadow of Soil), began on April 17 with the display of the works of teachers and students of the Department of Ceramics, Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) of Dhaka University. The works remind one of Bengal's history of pottery and ceramics.

Swiss poet-playwright and General Secretary of International Theatre Institute (ITI) Tobias Biancone was in town to attend the international seminar and theatre festival jointly organised by the Bangladesh Centre of ITI and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA). The festival, which ended on April 21, featured 21 productions -- including a dance performance, a dance-drama, one Chinese opera and a jatra -- staged by troupes from Bangladesh, India and Singapore.

Over three decades, actress Subarna Mustafa has enchanted the audience with her versatility. She has her hands full at the moment: There's “Shimanto” and “Metro” on Desh TV, “Uposhonghar” on ATN (by Shaatkahon, her own production house), and “Manobjomin” that will be aired on ntv from June.

Names of the 10 finalists of the first ever reality show on photography, “LUMIX Click to Fame”, were announced at a programme held at the Hotel Sheraton yesterday. The 10 finalists will now compete for the top prize on a television programme that will run on Channel i from tonight. The programme will be aired at 11:30pm on Fridays.

Starting from this Saturday, DS Café will have a celebrity take your calls at The Daily Star office. Once a month readers will have the opportunity to ask their favourite celebrity whatever they want to know. This month's featured celebrity is filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. Call 8126155 on Saturday, April 24, between 1 and 2 pm to speak to Farooki!!!

To mark 446th birth and 394th death anniversary of William Shakespeare, Desh TV will air a documentary today at 6:25 pm on the legendary English playwright. Apart from this, renowned litterateur Syed Shamsul Haq and Abdus Selim will participate in a discussion, titled “Bangladesh-e Shakespeare Chorcha.”

OP-ED

Pohela Boishakh has long been contested political ground. For most Bangladeshis it is a cherished article of authentic indigenous Bengali culture. But not for the fundamentalists, who have long made it a target, both rhetorically and in more direct and deadly ways.

Provision is an accounting word for liability of uncertain timing and uncertain amount. Certain costs or expenses will happen but their timing of incurrence or exact sums may not be known in definite terms. We make provisions in budget. We make provisions in business. It may sound unreal but why don't we do the same thing in this nation's future? Shall we say, give two terms of government to dynastic politics and then ask them to go away!

StarTech

Bangladesh is a developing country with limited resources, but it had never shied away from embracing new technologies. It was the first South Asian country to have a live mobile network back in 1993 by adopting AMPS technology. Electronic mail (email) was also introduced the same year. The first digital technology was introduced through awarding GSM licenses to mobile phone operators Grameenphone, Aktel and Sheba Telecom.

In a bid to cater for the growing demand of software solutions in the telecommunication industry in Bangladesh, SAP, one of the world's largest business software solution companies, on Wednesday at a programme in a city hotel announced their plans to expand its operations in the country.